Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?

Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?

Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?

Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?

Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?

Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?

Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?

Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don’t fit into any category at all.

Criteria

Reach: How many people would this idea affect?

Depth: How deeply are people impacted? How urgent is the need?

Attainability: Can this idea be implemented within a year or two?

Efficiency: How simple and cost-effective is your idea?

Longevity: How long will the idea’s impact last?

Ideas must be submitted by October 20th, 2008. One hundred ideas will be listed for public voting beginning on January 27th, 2009. This voting will narrow the list to 20 semi-finalists. An advisory board will then select up to five final ideas to which Google will contribute a total of $10 million to implement.